Pressure mounts for language services at New Mexico agencies
Associated PressSANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico welfare agencies are coming under new pressure from a federal judge and state lawmakers to expand translation and oral interpretation services to minority households that don’t speak English or Spanish. Advocacy groups for immigrants and Indigenous populations also are highlighting a federal court order to expand language services under the state Human Services Department. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Gonzales, at a court hearing Friday, affirmed the obligation of state agencies to identify languages spoken by families trying to access food and medical assistance and provide oral interpretation services. The judge largely rejected arguments by the Human Services Department that the agency already provides meaningful language access to people with limited English proficiency beyond Spanish. The court noted that the Human Services Department lacks adequate data to determine if more language services are needed to administer federal food benefits, ordering the agency to survey the state in coming months for small clusters of households that speak in Indigenous or foreign languages.
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Indigneous language speakers could get teacher salaries
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